Shirt.



G. BECKER.

SHIRT.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1, 1912.

Patented Aug. 5, 1913.

GEORGE BECKER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SHIRT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 1, 1912.

Patented Aug. 5,1913.

Serial No. 706,848.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE BECKER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shirts, of which the following is a specification.

Vhile applicable to shirts generally my improvements are designed more particularly for use in connection with high grade and dress shirts,the object being to attain all the advantages ofthe dress coat shirt while eliminating the objections thereto.

Incidentally my invention is a development and improvement upon the coat shirt shown in Letters Patent No. 925,269, issued to me June 15th, 1909, in which the back is closed and the bosom flaps are attached only to the collar band, yoke and reinforcing side strips, and extensions of the reinforced side strips form waist bands for the lower front flaps of the garment.

My present invention consists in the specific construction and arrangement of parts described and claimed, constituting what may be designated as a reverse coat shirt closable and openable for the full length of the back, and embodying other novel features hereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1, is a front view of the body portion of my improved garment, the bosom flaps being open; Fig. 2, is a rear view of the body of the garment.

One serious objection to the ordinary dress coat shirt as heretofore made is that the bosom flaps have to be fastened together after the garment has been donned, involving a difiicult and tedious operation calculated to muss and rumple the bosom flaps as well as the temper of the wearer, and render impossible the immaculate front which is the aim of all dress shirts. Another objection is the discomfort, and the danger of cold and exposure involved in the use of a split tail front owing to possible clerangement thereof. These objections detract from the comfort and convenience of a coat shirt as heretofore constructed, the main ad vantage attained thereby being the fact that the garment need not be put on over head.

I overcome the above named objections to a dress shirt coat by my reverse coat shirt, the back of which is made in two full length half sections 6, 7), independently attached to the yoke y, sleeves s, s, and front. The overlapping longitudinal edges 1), b, of the back sections Z), Z), are formed with buttons and button holes or other coupling devices 0, c, suitably positioned within convenient reach of the hand of the wearer. The front of the shirt is formed in five sections, namely, the lower front flap or apron a, the sections 1, 1", and the semi-detached bosom sections or dickies (Z, d. The apron (4, extends across the waist line below the sleeves s, 8, its side edges being attached to the side edges of the back sections 6, b, and it being continuous from side to side and top to bottom, ample protection and comfort are assured during use.

The upper front side sections 7", 1', are a new and important feature in the construction of the shirt. They are each attached to a portion of the yoke g to a sleeve 8, and to a portion of a back section b, b, be low the sleeve. Their lower port-ions lap the upper edge of the apron a, the edges of each part being stitched to the other to form the transverse reinforcements 1", 7". The front edges of the upper front side sections 1", 1, are lapped to form the ligaments 7*, 1, by which the bosom flaps (Z, d, are linked to said upper front side sections,the bosom flaps being also secured at top to the yoke 3 and collar band 6. The lower portion of each ligament T is attached to the transverse reinforcement 7 on its own side of the shirt front, only on the line it, which constitutes the back of the ligature, leaving the front edge thereof, to which the bosom flap (Z, is attached, entirely free except at the upper end where it is attached to the yoke y. This is a distinctive feature of my present construction as coin-- pared with the structure shown in my Letters Patent 925,269, in which the strips 7", r, are not free at their lower ends, the bosom flaps being attached directly to the front flaps a, of the shirt. I have found that this form of attachment is objectionable in that the initial strain has to be sustained by starched portions of the shirt, namely, the points (Z, (Z, in said patent, and consequently there is danger of ripping at these critical points; and furthermore the operation of ironing the bosom flaps is rendered difficult and is apt to increase the danger of rupture at the points referred to. Hence my present structure embodying the use of the upper front sections 1*, r, with the loose flexible ligaments 1' 7, interposed between them and the stiff bosom flaps (Z, (Z, not only facilitates the starching and ironing of the bosom flaps (Z, (,Z, but ittransfers the initial strain from starched joints to flexible ones, namely, to the connections h, it, between the lateral reinforcements r, r, and the flexible ligaments 1*, 1' where the two reinforcements cross each other, thereby making exceptionally strong joints. Thus the ligaments 7", i not only interpose a flexible margin between the stiff bosom flaps and their lines of connection with the sections 9', 1, but the transverse reinforcements also act in conjunction therewith to strengthen and render permanent and effective said lines of connection. If desired the over-lap between the lateral reinforcement r, and flexible ligament 1, may be further strengthened by one or more additional lines of cross stitching, as at h. Hence it will be seen that the upper front sections 7", r, with the lateral reinforcements r, r, are important factors in affording a garment of exceptional strength, particularly at the waist line where the strain is greatest in dress shirts of this class in which the lower ends of the bosom. flaps are unattached for the purpose of allowing the lower portion of the bosom to conform freely to the person of the wearer, and obviate buckling, discomfort, &c. The flexible connection thus attained between the body of the garment and the stiff bosom thereof, also adds materially to the comfort of the wearer, as well as to the durability and life of the shirt.

By my present construction of garment,

bosom studs, &c., may be conveniently inserted as a preparatory measure, and the toilet completed in every particular before donning the shirt, and without putting it on over head.

lVhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

1. A shirt closed at the front below the bosom and formed with upper front sections attached to the sleeves, yoke, back and front and lapping the latter to form transverse reinforcements, and formed with flexible ligaments by which bosom flaps are attached to the said upper front sections, the rear only of said ligaments being attached to said transverse reinforcements, and said. bosom flaps attached to said flexible ligaments and to the yoke and collar band of the garment.

2. A shirt of the character designated, open for its entire length at the back and closed at the front below the bosom formed with upper front sections attached to the sleeves, yoke, back and front and lapping the latter to form transverse reinforcements, and formed with flexible ligaments by which bosom flaps are attached to the said upper front sections, the rear only of said ligaments being attached to said transverse rell'lfOlCQlllSl'il'S and said bosom flaps attached to said flexible ligaments and to the yoke and collar band of the garment.

GEORGE BECKER.

Witnesses GEO. TM. MIATT, LTLLIA MIATT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

